Raunächte: Why the tradition of Raunacht is being revived

It’s a trend that has gradually resurfaced over the past two years and is continuing: Raunächte are becoming more important again. However, mostly in a slightly modified form. The star explains what the custom is all about and why it is trendy again.

The Raunächte, sometimes Rauhnächte or formerly Rauchnächte, usually take place between Christmas and January 6th, i.e. Epiphany. The most commonly reported reason: The Germanic people’s year consisted of 354 days. Compared to the solar year, eleven days or twelve nights were missing at the end of the so-called lunar year. There are other traditions that differ from this, but are essentially similar. Many people believed that during this time of “empty days” the laws of nature were suspended. This was accompanied by the assumption that demons and spirits could also cause mischief and enter this world. Therefore, there were rituals to avoid this, to drive away evil and to purify the world.

There are also different theories as to the origin of the name: According to one, the term Rauchnacht is related to the Middle High German word “rûch” (hairy), which is known in the furrier industry as “Rauware” or “Rauchware” for fur products. At that time, the demons were imagined as having a lot of hair, a reference to them. Another theory relies on the word “rough” as its origin, which means “rough” or “wild”. Still other opinions say that smoking was the reason for the name.

One of the traditional customs of the Raunächte was fumigation: the house and stable were supposed to be armed against evil with incense and holy water. At that time no laundry was hung out because there was concern that demons might get caught in it. For this reason, sewing and spinning were often avoided. In the rough nights, dreams used to be seen as pointing the way to the future, and people clung to them. Another ritual that can also be found in the “Raunächte Renaissance” is that of the 13 wishes. These are written on a piece of paper and one piece of paper is burned on each of the twelve nights. You should take care of the fulfillment of the remaining 13th wish yourself in the new year.

Another custom that can also be observed regularly in southern Germany and Austria is the Perchtlauf. On modern Perchten runs, people gather wearing masks and fur cloaks that are supposed to be reminiscent of ghosts and demons. They drive away evil spirits with (cow) bells, drums or rods. By the way, the New Year’s Eve custom of banging is said to be based on this ritual: the fireworks at midnight are supposed to keep ghosts away from the New Year.

Even in the past, the Raunächte were a time to reflect on the good and to prepare for the new year by freeing yourself from everything bad. People still believe that the time between years has a special spiritual quality. For many people, especially in southern Germany, the tradition has long been part of the holiday season. Different than before, this is how the book authors Christina Danetzky and Meliha Guri describe it in theirs but today it is not demons and ghosts that you want to get rid of, but rather stress and crises.

This assumption has also reached social media. It has been popular there for some time to reflect on deeper topics and talk about mental health and mindfulness. The basic idea of ​​the Raunächte hits a nerve of the times: for many people it is important, especially in view of the crises in the world, to get back to the good and free themselves from the negative. Last year, Louisa Dellert, among others, called for people to look into one or two of the Raunächte traditions.

There are also online courses that are intended to encourage students to deal with topics that are pushed aside during the rest of the year. It is certainly also so popular because the duration of this activity is limited to eleven days, making it easier to stick to it. Plus: Many people have vacation and the time they need between the years.

Graduate psychologist Tanja Köhler is one of the well-known providers of such courses. There, participants learn to deal with topics such as gratitude, looking forward to the coming year and letting go of things that are no longer good for you. Köhler has also written two books that are particularly about creating clarity and freeing yourself from everything unnecessary for the coming year: as well as .

In addition to TikTok trends, online courses or books, others are also reviving old rituals and using the time to remember the incense with incense sticks and meditate in order to reflect on themselves and their inner being and to reflect on what has happened throughout the year didn’t go well enough to be able to put it down next time.

How and with what you use the time between the years for mindfulness and reflection is of course individual. Anything that helps you free yourself from the negative things and thoughts that concern you is useful. There are plenty of instructions for designing “modern Raunächte”. In addition to the ones mentioned above, these books are helpful, for example:

In addition to matching books, there are also a or which encourage you to actively deal with your “own burdens” by putting them on paper.

So if you haven’t managed to think intensively about yourself throughout the year and find out which “evil spirits” are worth chasing away, you should think about giving the Raunächte trend a chance. In any case, it can’t do any harm.